Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Jarred by the explosion Darrah looked up as dust floated down and landed in her drink. The scream of a TIE Fighter blasted through the air, making the building tremble. Slapping down a few credits Darrah ran out of the cantina towards the starport with only one thing on her mind, get the hell out.

She dodged between buildings after catching sight of the white armor of stormtroopers. They always shot first and asked questions never. Rounding the corner she saw a few Resistance forces taking cover behind a wall. As usual she found herself in the middle of a fire fight. A low curse escaped her lips, hunching down low she ran behind rubble dodging shots from both sides, she could see her ship the gangway still down inviting her to take a chance.

Running quickly as she could, hearing a blast she looked over her shoulder then fell over something large, tumbling head over ass she landed hard. She looked at the mass of black and silver that had tripped her, she heard a muffled moan. It had a helmet on that looked slightly dented, "Are you alright?" she asked out of breath. It moaned a response and sat up, even through the mask it looked confused, looking around. "This area is a fire fight, I’m getting out, come on I’ll take you with me." It-he, she was pretty sure it was male at his point, struggled to stand grasping his hand she pulled him up to his full height, he towered over her. She could see blood coming from a large hole in his cloak.

"You're hurt pretty bad, come on, let's get out of here, once we hit hyper space I’ll pull off somewhere and we'll see just how bad it is," he nodded. When she took his hand he gripped it hard. "It's okay," she said, "I won't let anyone hurt you."

After some tricky flying she made the jump to hyperspace and set their exit a few light years away at the edge of an asteroid field. He sat back in her small med bay, hands on his knees after coming back to normal space she set course for a local planet favored by smugglers and hutts relatively safe from Resistance and First Order troops. She walked back to him, "Let's see how bad this is okay? Can you take off your helmet?"

He looked confused again but nodded and slowly removed his helmet. The smell of vomit became overwhelming, "You've definitely got a concussion she said," fighting back her own nausea, she opened a pack of cleaning cloths and and began wiping his face trying not to look disgusted. A large scar ran between his eyes and down across his right cheek his eyes were dilated one pupil larger than the other. She turned down the lights and he seemed to relax a little, "Can you take your shirt or cloak off? I need to see how bad the wound on your chest is." He seemed to struggle with the question for a moment, then moved to pull off his shirt and winced. "Hey it's okay, here let's see if it fastens somewhere?”

It did, over his shoulder she unbuttoned it and found a zipper and unzipped it, pulling it down over his shoulders and baring his chest and stomach. He had dozens of scars, some very recent and barely healed. The wound on his chest seemed superficial, just torn skin that probably needed stitches. She fished around in the med pack and found a vial of bacta spray, "Here we go, I can spray this and it will hold you over till we get you to a doctor," she smiled. He stared at her and tried to smile back but she could tell that the confusion overwhelmed him.

"Where should I take you? Any preference?" He seemed to think about it but couldn't quite connect the dots, she noticed gooseflesh rise on his skin. "Here we go," she wrapped a thermal blanket around him, "Just take it easy and-"

Sensors went off everywhere, they were in a tractor beam. She ran to the cockpit to see that they were being pulled into a large star destroyer. "Great...."

After being forcibly docked and boarded by stormtroopers she and her passenger were marched off the ship, he held tight to her hand as she reassured him, "It's okay, I probably just crossed over into their space, I'm sure once we explain it, they'll treat you and let us go on our way." She didn't believe it, but it seemed to keep him calm.

"Kylo Ren, " called a slight but commanding man, "we picked up your tracker and came for you, we thought perhaps the Resistance had taken you." He looked at Darrah suspiciously, "Yet I don't believe you are Resistance? Ren?" He said again sounding annoyed.

"I'm not, I'm just an independent freighter," she lied, trying to keep her voice steady, "I found him dazed and bleeding in the starport, I didn't realize he was actually in the fire fight. I thought maybe he had just gotten caught up in it like myself, but I think he has a concussion. He could really use a doctor."

"I see, take Kylo Ren to the medbay and arrest her," Darrah began to open her mouth but Kylo Ren answered.

"No," he said softly, gripping her hand, looking from Darrah to the man, confusion plain on his face.

"I told him I wouldn't let him out of my sight or let anyone hurt him, I think he's scared," she said gently, her heart pounding.

"Fine, take them to medbay," a bemused look crossed his face, as if Kylo Ren scared and clutching to a stranger made the annoyance worth it.

Back in the medbay doctors attended Kylo Ren, giving her curt nods, "I think the bacta spray has already healed the wound on his chest," the doctor said, "but we'll need to scan his brain to make sure there isn't any damage.” He activated the scanner and moved to scan Kylo, but he resisted.

"Hey," Darrah said softly to him, "I told you, I’ll keep you safe, he needs to check your brain, okay? It won't hurt it's just a simple scan." He nodded, Darrah motioned to the doctor.

"His brain is bruised but he should be back to normal in a day or two," the doctor seemed on edge.

"See you're going to be fine," She squeezed his hand gently and he squeezed back, "Does he need any special medicines?"

"Just rest, he also needs to stay calm, so I'm going to suggest to General Hux you stick around until he's better, " the doctor looked apologetic.

"General Hux?" Darrah repeated.

"He wanted to arrest you," Kylo said softly, his eyes still looked dazed but he seemed to focus on her, "but he won't." He shook his head as if trying to clear it but winced.

"It's okay," she said, “I told you, I'm going to make sure you're okay, I’ll stay with you until you feel better."

The doctor backed away slowly, "I'll um, I’ll have someone show you to his quarters."

"Quarters huh? And here I thought I was saving you from the fight, bet you caused it didn't you?" She smiled at him and he tried to smile back.

"Keep watch on him, contact me if the vomiting returns or if he worsens." The doctor, edged back further, "I'll send an orderly with a lift chair."

A little while later Darrah found herself in Kylo Ren's quarters, "Bare but not bad," She said more to herself than Kylo since he didn't seem to follow the one sided conversation. He stood looking at his bed, confused, as if knowing he needed to be in it but couldn't figure out its purpose or how to get inside it.

"Tired?" She asked. He nodded, wincing again. "I know it hurts, but after a little rest you'll feel better. Do you know where your pajamas would be?" He looked around absolutely befuddled as if the pajamas would present themselves from the ceiling or floor. Darrah found a closet and a chest of drawers. "Hmmm," she puzzled, "all black huh?" She smiled pulling out a soft sleep shirt and pants with a drawstring. "Here we go, let's get this off and some soft pants on.” She slipped the shirt over his head and pulled his arms through as gently as she could, the chest wound now scabbed and healing nicely, "nothing like bacta for flesh wounds," he nodded in response.

"Okay, pants off and we'll get these on, " he paused for a moment, confused, his fingers fumbled with the buttons but couldn't quite get them undone. “You'll need help with this," she wanted to give him some modesty but realized he couldn't handle it. Unbuttoning his pants they fell away revealing that he apparently didn't prefer underwear, "Oh my, " she said blushing, holding the sleep pants open for him to step in and helping him pull them up,"I didn't expect that," a smiled played at his lips but didn't quite form.

"Let's get you into bed," she pulled back his covers and patted the mattress, he sat down and looked up at her, "what?" She asked. He reached out for her hand and scooted backwards," Oh, you want me to stay with you... in the bed? "

"Please," he said, "I don't like..." he trailed off, struggling to form the words, "I don't like the dark... alone," he said his brows knit, he seemed worried.

"Okay," she said his scared look softened her a bit, "I’ll have to borrow some pajamas," he looked confused, but she moved to the closet and pulled out more pajama bottoms and another shirt. "Turn your head so I can change," he looked at her for a moment and slowly turned his head away. She shed her pants and pulled on the sleep pants, pulling off her top and bra she sighed softly at the release of the elastic. He turned his head as if to respond but then turned back a blush creeping up his ears. She smiled, her bare chest definitely didn't confuse him.

She walked slowly towards the bed, "You can look again," she said softly. He scoot over farther and she climbed in. He moved next to her and turned over, she smiled wrapping her arm around him. She turned down the bed side light, leaving a low soft light, "There, not completely dark," he relaxed and within moments seemed to drift off. She stroked his hair still a little stiff and dirty, she grimaced knowing what would be in it, but the cleaning cloths had taken away the scent. Slowly she drifted off to sleep, one arm securely wrapped around Kylo.